2018 ORBEA OCCAM TR H20-PLUS BIKE

The Orbea Occam TR Hydro puts you in the same confident and agile trail position that you find on the Occam TR OMR. The only difference is they employ hydroformed, triple-butted aluminum instead of their top-shelf carbon-fiber plies. This results in you getting the same impressive ride at a substantial savings.

As with the OMR, the Hydro is an evolution of their updated trail ride. Seeing the benefits of big, wide wheels, the platform has been revamped to fit Boost spacing at the hubs and both 650b (27.5”) and 29er wheels in the frame. This way, your wheels are not only stronger but also are more responsive to you needs. If you want to roll on big rims, you can choose that, if you want a bigger tire for better grip, you can have that as well.

Trail riding is what most do. Getting your trail bike so it can take in more without losing the benefits of a light bike and an agile climber was the mission. They accomplished that by sticking with their basic geometry ideas, increasing the travel on the front end to 130mm, keeping the 120mm travel in back, and improving shaping. Now, you’ll find the TR with a 67.5-degree head angle, 74-degree seat angle, 435mm chainstays, and 340mm bottom bracket height. Thanks to the Boost spacing, there’s greater bottom bracket width, which not only gives room for wider tires, but also improves lateral stiffness. The same can be written of the Boost-spaced fork, which, thanks to the wider hub flanges, is laterally stiffer, making carving turns easier.

Beyond the geometry, there’s Orbea’s inexorable advancement of technology. On either side of the rear hub is Orbea’s new rear triangle design. The rear triangle actually does without any pivots by the rear axle, which offers several benefits. Without pivots, the rear end is 150g lighter. Without pivots, there is less to break, less to maintain, less to go wrong. And the UFO stays have vertical compliance designed into them, thanks to both fiber alignment and shaping. The stays are where much of the small-bump sensitivity comes from, which makes it easier for the shock to take care of bigger things.

Orbea doesn’t leave suspension duties to an off-the-shelf shock. They worked with Fox on this 120mm-travel Float DPS three-position shock. The action has been tuned thanks to Orbea’s Advanced Dynamics analysis. The leverage ratio curve is designed to have starting sag at around 25% of travel to further small-bump sensitivity. Then, up to 40% the leverage ratio decreases slightly. And about 50%, the leverage ratio rises to better work with the air spring. It’s controlled by a three-position lever on the bars, which also allows for on-the-go adjustments for the Fox 34 Float with 120mm of travel. The travel of the TR bike is 20mm less than the AM, to better work with the larger wheels.

The fork and shock are merely the taming of the trail. Your power and control start with the geometry, and Orbea had a pretty strong idea of what they wanted. Something that was comfortable, stable, and fast. So they developed angles and tube lengths that provide a long reach for stability with shorter stems. Below, they lowered the bottom bracket (340mm), for even more stability. To make for better climbing, they went with short chainstays (435mm). They paired the short stays with a steep seat angle (74.5-degrees) for improving climbing efficiency. And then, up front, they went with a slack head angle (68-degrees), to provide predictable steering in steep and/or rough terrain.

Then they worked on manipulating their material of choice. Aluminum. One of the great things about a highly-refined material like aluminum is how much knowledgeable builders can do with it for very little. Triple-butting minimizes weight. Hydroforming allows for sophisticated and precise shaping that impressively mimics the shapes created via molding carbon-fiber. The head tube hides a tapered steerer, 1 1/8” to 1 ½”. Which leads to an oversized downtube, which widens on its way to the bottom bracket. which itself is wider than usual, thanks to Boost spacing. When paired with the flattened top tube, the frame represents an advance in torsional strength. Then Orbea builds on this. Thanks to the wide bottom bracket, the chainstays are set wide, which aids not only in torsional stiffness, but durability. In fact, Orbea sets all the moving elements of the frame on widely-set oversized bearings. The oversized bearings are more durable, move more easily, and, of course, add to the stiffness and durability of the frame.

In order to both stay with the times and prepare for the future, all the cable routing is internal, including room for cabling a dropper post. On the exterior, the front derailleur mount is easily removed or converted if you prefer a single ring setup. Or vice versa if coming from a single-ring.

The Orbea Occam TR Hydro is all the more impressive a trail ride when considering how the aluminum frameset increases the cost efficiency.